Miss Priss and Mister K Danger Tachibana
by RavingBabbit
Summary: Mio flirts. With danger himself.  The results are disturbing.
1. Miss Priss and Mister K Danger Tachibana

A/N: ...I got inspired by LyLBunny's Skip Beat! blog when she talked about Chapter 149. I forgot how much I love sweet and dark Katsuki.

Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! In no way is LyLBunny's awesomeness associated with this steaming pile of shit. I also don't actually know what Misao and Mio are to each other... so suspend any working knowledge of the Dark Moon series, cool?

Premise: Mio flirts. With danger himself. The results are disturbing.

* * *

**Miss Priss and Mister K. Danger Tachibana  
**

They were surrounded by crystals and flowers, but the words between them weren't nearly as delicate or trivial.

"What can I do for you, Miss Hongo?" Katsuki asked. He was ever the gentleman to his future in-laws, and doubly so to a talented, if distant, student.

"For me, Tachibana-sensei, not much," Mio said, continuing her discomfiting appraisal.

If he were alone in a semi-hidden hallway with any young girl but the formidable Miss Hongo, Katsuki would have worried on how anyone would have seen them. In fact, Tachibana had the feeling that any guests passing by would pity him, cornered by Miss Hongo's haughty aura.

"But as to my lovely relation, I am sure your charms would find purchase."

"I am fortunate to be with Misao," Katsuki smiled faintly.

Miss Hongo's smile grew, but not in mirth. "Misao is _also_ lovely; however, she is not who I had in mind for you, sensei."

Fortunately for Katsuki, she chose to be amused by his answering silence. Her heels clacked in time to the seconds it took for Katsuki to reject every wrong answer that came to mind. Miss Hongo wore none of the musky perfume that defined a young woman of her status, but she smelled like wealth.

Katsuki wondered if his face reflected the instinctive revulsion rising in him as she reached out and skimmed her lacquered finger down his tie and untucked it from his blazer. "With all due respect, sensei, I would respect you more if you would drop your facade."

Then she tilted her head modestly, but it had the effect of baring the puckered mess of scars on her face. Her scar looked especially grotesque, paired with the flowers and finery that also crowned her.

Yet her jaw was carefully relaxed and her face perfectly blank, and pity crept into Katsuki's heart. She spoke of facades and respect, but she was still a young, troubled girl.

"Now there's a million yen word," Katsuki said. "You must have been very bored in my class, Miss Hongo. I doubt I ever taught you anything." He had long since given up the laughable notion that he could truly teach Hongo Mio anything.

His sympathy must've bled through his natural guardedness because her eyes narrowed and the smile was frozen on her lips again. "Oh, but you did, sensei. It was in your class that I learned a humbling lesson."

That cracked him up. "I highly doubt I could humble anyone from the Hongo clan, but I am flattered as your teacher that I make a difference." Spoken like a veteran of parent-teacher conferences.

Mio looked like she was ready to slap him. Katsuki braced himself, but what transpired staggered him anyways. He had assumed that she had stiffened her fingers to strike and sting. Instead, her clammy fingers touched his cheek with the lightest brush. Her lips never pressed on his skin, but by her breath and the ghostly fluttering of her penciled lash, he knew exactly where she would have kissed him.

Quick as a flash, he held her at arm's length. "I am your teacher. You are a _child_."

"Being my teacher hardly precludes you from acting like a man."

Katsuki heard a gasp, but Mio's lips were straight and taut. He turned his head and explanation failed him as Mizuki, perfectly out of reach with her sunny hair and floaty dress, apologized for "barging in on them" and fled.

As predicted, Tachibana-sensei turned on his heel and chased after her lovely cousin Mizuki. Now there was a child-like girl if ever there was one. Mizuki was boring, cheerful, and, by extension, perversely enticing.

"You have proved yourself more of a man than ever you knew, Katsuki. Men always pick on the helpless ones."

Mio gazed intently at a vase of passion flowers, a pretty blush on her that no man would see for her cousin's blustering radiance. A dark moon washed out by the noonday sun.

* * *

"That was... wow, Kyoko. If the Mio/Katsuki fan speculation doesn't boost our ratings, I don't know what will."

She recovered long enough to thank him, but Kyoko's eyes popped widely open at Ogata-san's encouraging words.

"Where's Ren? I was going to commend him as well."

Hearing Director Ogata say his name catalyzed an interesting phenomenon of equal and opposing forces in Kyoko's overtaxed brain. _Did I make him run away? Impossible! He's too professional to be offended if I am playing with him through my character. But he looked really caught up. Ahh, I did something wrong that only he could see...I should have just kissed him like the script called for! I'm unworthy..." _And so on.

Her head was simply too full of him.


	2. Miss Priss Won't Kiss

A/N: Hey there. I know I said I was going to be MIA but then...

Premise: Danger flirts back. With all the ladies.

Disclaimer: Don't own Skip Beat! Not trying to copy Twilight with the whole sun and moon metaphor. Uggggghhhh. I'm lamer than forgettable Harry Potter characters reincarnated as sparkly vampires.

Who Wants a Prize?*: If anyone can guess what phenomenon I'm referring to, I'll write whatever you want. Hint: two words.

* * *

**Miss Priss Won't Kiss**

For a moment, Katsuki was lost. He'd been caught up in the contrast between the pale skin of her hand and the dark polish. The nails were dark that you couldn't see real blood under them. They were stroking his blue tie. The surreal clash of white, deep red, and soft baby blue brought him back to the present. Katsuki stopped Mio in time before she could touch her venemous lips to his neck, though he shuddered from the spidery tickle of her eyelashes.

"...You are a _child."_ As he held Mio safely away from him, Katsuki caught sight of Mizuki. Tragically, powerfully, the rest of him was drawn to her brightly lit figure in that shaded hallway.

Though his words were aimed at Mio, his eyes were not.

Mizuki, reeled in by his gaze, took a tentative step forward. As though realizing what drew her in, Katsuki snapped his gaze away. He was probably looking at a vase or a convincing replica of an ancient tapestry, but Mizuki connected the line of his intense look to her cousin.

_I am your teacher. _Mizuki willed her hand to stay down, because if she hadn't, she would have clapped it over her mouth in shock or hit herself. "I'm sorry to have bothered you. Excuse me." Her little white slippers were already retreating.

He didn't think twice about turning his back to Mio to get to Mizuki. _What am I doing?_ he asked. A darker voice in him chuckled. _Creeping in your own shadow._

Katsuki knew he should have left her alone, returned to the adult's party, and made his apologies to Misao like a good fiancé. He had a plan to follow. But he followed the girl instead, as she strode towards the foyer and boisterously threw open the huge entrance door. She almost spun herself around with the effort.

It was quite... cute.

Katsuki waited a couple beats, out of pity for her, before taking a step outside himself. The cigarette was already lit in his hand.

Somehow, she managed to glow, despite the meager light of the stars. Mizuki half-sat on the carved edge of an elaborate pillar. Her leg was extended and a ballerina slipper was rolled on its side. The sight of her bare foot bothered him; he looked at her little shoe instead.

"Do you mind if I...?" He waved his hand a little, spreading out the smoke.

At his question, her head lifted, and he saw that he was making it worse for her. Katsuki's alarm was contagious. Mizuki seemed to feel the tears on her blushing cheeks all of a sudden. Bravely, she turned her eyes to the night.

"You can go ahead sensei," Mizuki said. She started a little when he dabbed his kerchief under each eye. It felt like a kiss on each cheek- first the right, then the left. Then he pinched her nose and wiggled it. "Blow."

Mizuki laughed and shook herself free. "No way! I'm not a child!"

He didn't expect her to push him away; he fell down and she almost rose up to help him. "Sit down, Hongo-san! I'm not helpless either."

The words came out sharper than he'd intended. "I'm sorry, Hongo," he said, feeling remorseful. Katsuki couldn't bring his eyes to her scared face. "I know you're not a child."

His hand had found her shoe in his fall. Katsuki set it upright and pushed it towards her. Mizuki put her foot in her ballet flat, and bent to tug the back end of it. Katsuki was faster; her fingers brushed his knuckles as he fitted the slipper snugly under her heel. She could feel his strong, piano fingers on her instep through the material of her shoe.

But most of all, she felt his look. He was looking up and up and up at her. A brilliant moon seduced by the shadow of the sun*.

The camera panned out as first a sliver then a thick block of light fell harshly on the both of them. The forbidden couple stared back at the figure in the door.

* * *

"Good, good," Ogata breathed out. "We lost time with overlapping scenes, but this was good. Okay. Back to Mio and Misao at the window, in ten? Everyone?"

The director got a buzz of assent, and bustled off to do something about the lighting.

Ren was the first to stand. He helped Itsumi to her feet. "Thank you, Tsuruga-kun. That was a romantic touch, stuffing your hanky in my face!"

"I'm sorry, Momose," Ren said. "I am moved when a beautiful lady weeps."

"There he goes again," stage crew grumbled amongst themselves, as Itsumi's attempts to tease Ren resulted in her total meltdown.

"Mogami-san," Ren said, when he found her chatting with wardrobe. "If I might have a brief word with you?"

"D- did I do something wrong?" she stuttered, unnerved by his seemingly good mood.

"It wasn't wrong," Tsuruga said. "In future, if your role requires you to get close to me or touch me, you have my permission to do so. Don't hesitate."

Kyoko eyed him in horror. "Including putting my lips on you?"

He nodded solemnly, pained despite his amusement that Kyoko couldn't connect the word 'kiss' with his face. "That's all. You should get back there."

"Wait sempai!"

Ren turned to her as she brought her clasped hands up, as if he were a statue of Buddha. Angry Buddha.

"You, too! Don't hesitate with me!" If she were anyone else, he would have believed that earnest face.

If they weren't surrounded, he might have tested the boundaries of her consent.


	3. Mister Danger is No Stranger

A/N: Damn. Another insomniac update that happened when I was trying to write something else. Guess who was reading Volume 17?

Disclaimer: Don't own Skip Beat!

Runadaemon: For you. :) You bet right on Lunar Eclipse. Did I fix my mistake?

Alitablake: You. You too are starting to understand my mind patterns.

* * *

**Mister Danger is No Stranger**

Ren had expected it, yet to hear the shattering of glass and the resulting crunch as her body landed cracked his focus. In the building hush of the choreographed scene of Mio in her nightgown being shoved out of the window by Misao, the thud that followed the destruction sounded too final.

While he hovered peripherally of the excitement, it took every trained nerve in his being to tap at his keyboard. Then he saw another circle of people forming. In any other scene but one that required a minor stunt on Kyoko's part, he would not have leapt to his feet and overtaken the curious workers and actors.

_Get away. I can pick up your morbid interest. You don't _care _about her. _Except for the director and the medic hunched over Kyoko, he saw no need for anyone else to be around her. Held back by his gentle persona, Ren was not able to scare off those remaining.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, feeling more like a fraud. His voice came out smoother than his feelings.

"We're waiting for Ueda-san to confirm," Ogata said. "Kyoko will tell you how she is when he's done."

"Is she hurt?"

"We'll see. Will everyone please clear the space?" Ogata requested, mild-mannered and reassuring. "I'm sure no one wants to embarrass Kyoko-chan by being worried." His eyes settled on Ren who appeared not to have heard him. He knew for a fact that Kyoko was perfectly fine. There was life in her yet. Her sempai, however, became a statue.

For once, Ogata was grateful for his small frame which allowed him to discreetly kneel by Ueda-san.

"She's fine, Ogata-kun." Ueda eyed the director suddenly at his level.

"Should I get up?" asked the girl nervously. Ogata's eyes widened meaningfully at the medic.

_Am I being directed? _Ueda thought, amused. Ogata then flicked his gaze meaningfully to the Tsuruga fellow towering like a sentry outside the bounds of Ogata's request to "clear the space" while keeping a fierce watch over the little girl. The "fake" scar on her probably didn't help things.

"Little miss, I don't think you should get up so soon."

"You there!" the medic picked up Kyoko and called to Ren. "She needs to lie down, but I don't know where to put her. Will you take her?" Ueda let some doubts creep into his voice. Tsuruga was tall, but didn't look like he had any power in him.

Ueda was almost embarrassed by the shy blush that dusted Ogata-kun's cheeks. Compared to other directors, it took little to please the boy.

Then Ren moved, and had Kyoko in his arms before Ueda so much as blinked.

Ogata smiled at the medic's perplexed expression. "I haven't figured out how he does that either."

"Am I too heavy?" Kyoko asked anxiously, trying to discover the source of his bad mood.

"No," he said, distractedly. Maybe he was mentally reading a script, but was stuck by helping her.

Ah. "You don't have to carry me. The man said I was fine. I feel fine, too, but I didn't want to talk back to a professional."

Tsuruga paused mid-step. He hadn't counted on someone closing the door to the lounge.

"Hold onto me real tight, Mogami." She tentatively hugged him.

"Harder." Her breath and her lash were on him again. He took his time opening the door while she clutched him. They were pretty much in an outsized closet, stuffed with mirrors, chairs, and random decor from leftover segments of filming.

"You can relax now."_  
_

"Thank you, Tsuruga-sempai." She had said it as a cue for him to set her down on the sofa, but he must have been lost in Katsuki's lines.

"You can put me down, Tsuruga-sempai," Kyoko said. Despite her cautious, gentle tone, he seemed more irritated.

"Is there something wrong with the way I am holding you?" Ren asked, fixing a smile on his face that made Kyoko's skin prickle.

Kyoko began to suspect that she _had_ hit her head against the window frame. Otherwise, she wouldn't have believed that he was angry at her.

"N- no, not at all," Kyoko said. It was hard to tell him that when she was vulnerable.

"Sometimes you deviate from the script to avoid touching me. In the minutes it took for me to carry you here, you dropped three hints that you wanted to be put down. You wouldn't have done that with medical personnel. I can only conclude that you don't like me."

"That's not it!" Kyoko wondered if Tsuruga had bumped his head somewhere, too.

"Mogami, you are more at ease with jumping through a window than being in contact with me, like you are right now. How else am I supposed to take that?"

"It's not that I don't like you," Kyoko said. "I'm not a physical person to begin with. It's not uncommon. If you are angry at me for being myself, then just let me go!"

"I'm not the sort of person to do that. You'd get hurt if I drop you. I don't understand why you don't see that."

"That's not what I meant," she argued. "I don't know why you're picking a fight with me now. Things were fine between us."

"As long as I keep my distance," Tsuruga said, coldly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, please don't take offense at my modesty. I don't intentionally keep you at an arms' length. It's how I was raised. I know you get exposed to lots of people so you're not afraid to show affection and be close, but I am not like that. Please know that I respect you a lot."

"That's just it, Mogami. I know you respect me, but do you like me?" He asked her the question as though it mattered if someone insignificant like her cared about him. Here was a man who broke hearts all over the continent.

"Yes, I do. You are my sempai, but you're not acting like it," she said, her tone a little pleading. It was clear that Kyoko wanted to be put down.

He let go of her, only because he felt some of his control slipping again. There were too many ways that this was going to play out, and too many of them involved never speaking to her again.

"I'm sorry if I don't meet your expectations," Ren said.

"I'm your kohai! _You _are supposed to have the great expectations!" Kyoko looked ready to pull her hair out. "I could just pull my hair out! I could, too, with this wig!" She proceeded to yank it off along with the cap underneath it. Her real hair stuck up haphazardly.

Ren then did something unexpected. He smiled; it made her knees wobble.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked the guy who instigated her. His hands steadied her.

"Yes," Kyoko said, scuttling away.

"You're doing it again."

Kyoko stopped, wondering why he was going to pick another fight with her after smiling. Or maybe he was baring his teeth to attack again?

"What can I do to prove that I do like you? And that I don't mind you being near me?" she asked.

Again, too many ways that involved never speaking to her again, if he didn't play this right.

"I've got an idea. Sit down and rest, Mogami," he said, gesturing to the overstuffed yellow couch. Ren kept his gaze at her neck and not an inch further down as Mio's nightgown hiked up from her calves to her thighs. He settled next to her, making no fast movements to startle her.

"Tsuruga-san, I don't know about this." She was understandably very antsy.

"It's alright... You don't need to be afraid. I will only touch you a little." Ren had his hands where she could see them, trying not to smile in case it was too powerful. His knee naturally bumped hers and he raised an eyebrow at her as though to say _Is this so bad? _He must have ended up smiling anyway because she squeaked and grabbed at something to shield herself. Whereas normal people would grab a pillow or a cushion, Mogami ended up with an admittedly thick shield of plastic flowers.

Ren sighed deeply, wistfully, and pointedly as though to say _You still don't like me even though I'm giving you this chance._

From her stricken expression, Ren knew he hit target. Never one to back down from a NG, Kyoko faced him, grim determination set in her pout. While Ren was aware that this wasn't the normal scene of seduction, he understood that the gods were letting him go scott-free.

Ren was amazed to hear her shallow breaths as he leaned in. Then she tilted her head and he could hear the wet sound of her tongue running nervously over her lip. Ren, being a visual person, had pictured this several times- sometimes supplementing the images with real memories of her touch and her scent. Ren was surprised by what she sounded like, and then he anticipated what she might taste like.

Then the Love gods laughed it up, and smote Ren with an epiphany.

Though he would shortly know how lovely she was to behold, to cradle, to breathe in, to listen to, and to kiss... he'd miss out on the most important sense if he cheated fate and took her. He'd miss out on that _sense_ of love from her while being teased by the lesser feelings.

"Who's in here?" The door to the lounge banged open after one knock. Several jaws dropped.

For sprawled under Kyoko were some tacky-looking flowers. But that wasn't the important part. Sprawled all over Kyoko was Tsuruga Ren, glaring at the intruders hatefully.

After all, they had no right to see Kyoko the way he did. _I won't let anyone else have you.

* * *

_

"I apologize, Mogami-san. Nothing was going to happen to you... "

"You deceived me," she wailed, cowering where the shadows gathered. "With your sweet words."


End file.
